Standing in the doorway, hand tightly gripping the door-frame, Sakura looked into the room with a hard, determined expression.
She knew Sasuke was not an affectionate man. It wasn't that he wasn't nice to her and it wasn't that he never showed that he cared for her; he definitely did, just in his own subtle way. More than anything he was just exorbitantly against public displays of affection and prolonged physical contact.
What she was preparing to do would be a real challenge. She'd gone on S-ranked missions that were barely more difficult than this. But she had to try it at least once. They'd been seeing each other for a few months now, and she had just finally gotten him to be comfortable with holding her hand in public.
A part of her mind told her that this might be easier. They were at his apartment where no one would see them, and it's not like he really had to do anything. He could just lay there if he wanted…
"Are you gonna stand out there all day?" Sasuke asked from the couch, not once looking up from his book.
Sakura smiled as she strode into the room, fists clenched and with an unwavering determination.
Standing before him she looked down at his sitting form, still focused on the words on the pages in front of his nose. He glanced over the book once, raising a questioning eyebrow at her, yet she said nothing.
After a few seconds of silence, he sighed, placing the book down on the seat next to him. "Yes?"
Sakura smiled sweetly at him as she took as seat beside him, swiftly sliding the book farther down the couch—and out of his reach.
She looked at him with a calculating expression. Now… how would she go about initiating this?
When she saw Sasuke shift uncomfortably under her hard stare, she let out a light laugh.
"Come here," grabbing his hand lightly, she tugged his arm.
"What are you doing?" he resisted her pull, looking at her with a confused expression.
Pulling his arms a little more roughly, she leaned herself back on the couch, trying to pull him along with her. "Cuddling with you."
Sasuke pulled his hand out of her grasp and crossed his arms. "Tsh."
"Oh come on! It's not like anyone's gonna see you!" Sitting herself cross-legged on the couch, she folded her arms across her chest, mimicking his posture.
"I'm busy," he attempted to reach around her and grab his book, but she wasn't having any of that…
"Ah ah ah!" Snatching the book up from behind her, she held it over her head. "Reading time is over."
"Sakura," he warned, an annoyed look on his face.
"Sasuke," she whined slightly, pouting. "You know I don't ask for much."
It was true. Sasuke was still adjusting to being back in the village. He'd been back for about 6 months now, and Sakura was doing all she could to make sure his transition back into the Leaf would go as smoothly as it could. Meaning: she didn't exactly demand that he do much with her. She knew that even though they were technically 'together', he still needed his space.
Watching as he closed his eyes tightly, pinched the bridge of his nose, and then sighed, Sakura smiled to herself.
Got him.
"Fine."
Sakura grinned brightly before grabbing his arms and pulling him down with her. Lying on her back, she waited while he laid down beside her. Turning to face him, and seeing the light blush on his cheeks, her smile softened a bit before she nuzzled against him.
She let out a content sigh. "Isn't this nice?"
Sasuke didn't say anything, although he did grunt slightly—his own personal way of replying.
They remained that way for several minutes, Sakura's eyes were closed as she listened quietly to the steady beating of Sasuke's chest…
"YO! SASUKE!"
…and the screaming of Naruto's voice—
Wait.
Sitting straight up, glare already etched dangerously on her features, Sakura found Naruto standing in the doorway, smiling stupidly at them.
"Well, well, well… look what we have here!" His grin widened as he stood back and took in the view before him. "How cute!" He batted his eyelashes toward the couple before he lost his composure and started laughing.
Sasuke must have been on the verge of sleep, much like Sakura had been. Because when he sat up too, glaring just as fiercely as she was—if not more—at Naruto, he started rubbing a kink out of his neck, blinking to readjust his eyes to the light of the room.
"We were supposed to meet up at four o'clock, you guys!" Naruto said, hardly containing his laughter. "Remember? To train? I knew you'd be here when I didn't find you at your place, Sakura." Finally straightening his posture, he laughed a little more before sighing dramatically, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "But I didn't expect to see you two cuddling—"
His sentence was cut off by a kunai flying right by his head. Letting out a slight yelp as the knife embedded itself into the doorframe, Naruto's shock was soon replaced with a sly grin. Sakura turned to Sasuke with a disapproving look, but before she could say anything he was already standing.
"Fine. Let's train."
She sighed at his angry tone as she watched Naruto throw an excited fist in the air and run back toward the front door, yelling to Sasuke the entire time about how 'cute' he looked 'cuddling with your girlfriend'.
Antagonizing Sasuke wasn't very hard, but if your name was Uzumaki Naruto, if was practically a special skill. A hobby even.
Sighing a third and final time, she swung her legs over the couch and stood up as well, lazily following after the two.
So much for cuddling…